Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 3

 How can primary and secondary colleagues work together to ensure that primary language learning is built on in the secondary curriculum?  Can primary and secondary colleagues collaborate to develop local models of curriculum planning and delivery?  How are transfer and transition different, and where might they converge?

 Languages can become a “performance” subject – quick-fire Q&A, role-play, games, etc.  Do these activities exclude pupils who are more used to pair and group work, or who need more “thinking time”?  Y7 teachers need to build on prior learning, make the classroom and learning experience comfortable and reassuring

 Teachers need a shared knowledge of the holistic nature of the KS2 Framework  Pupils’ use of English can mask the sophisticated nature of their discussions about skills, strategies and knowledge of how language works  Sustained progression and effective transition is not just about content

 Secondary schools usually work in different subjects with different teachers and pupils in different groups with different peers  The new secondary curriculum offers more opportunities for cross-curricular content and a broader range of learning styles  Pupils should know the reasons behind the links if they are to engage emotionally

 Y7 pupils do not want to repeat the work they have done in primary school  Y7 teachers have to find new ways of doing old things as well as introducing new concepts and content  At the same time they should develop sustained linguistic progression  All secondary teachers should have a knowledge of the KS2 Framework, not just those working directly with primary schools

 Even if pupils have studied the same language at primary school, they will have been taught in different ways or covered different areas of vocabulary and structures  Accelerated pace could sacrifice “thinking time” – constraints of the secondary timetable  There is a need for a range of activities and learning styles:  Collaborating on extended projects, e.g. writing stories for younger learners  Similar projects centred around paintings, music, drama

 Administrative bridge – sharing information, feedback to primaries on Y7 progress  Social and Personal bridge – induction days, open evenings, mentoring, guides  Curriculum bridge – data, cross-phase projects, joint planning, exchange of curriculum maps  Pedagogical bridge – shared understanding of effective teaching and learning, team teaching, exchanges  Management of Learning bridge – pupils as active participants in own learning, portfolios, etc.

 It may not be possible for every secondary school to relate its Y7 teaching plans with the Y6 experience offered in all of its partner primaries  Primary schools cannot specifically respond to all the Y7 programmes offered in the secondary schools to which they send children  These constraints should be understood so that unrealistic expectations concerning continuity do not arise

 Secondary colleagues should have a clear understanding of how the KAL, LLS and IU strands of the KS2 Framework are integral parts of linguistic progression  It is not enough to focus on Oracy and Literacy alone  Building on skills and knowledge about language in general and not just the vocabulary and structures of a specific language makes it less important that pupils continue with the same language into KS3

 Mutual understanding of and respect for each other’s pedagogies and contexts  Mutual understanding of the KS2 and KS3 Frameworks  A desire to observe each other’s classrooms and schools in action  A willingness to watch, ask questions, adapt and change

 Primary teachers know about teaching all abilities in the same class, absorbing pupils from different schools, countries and with different home languages  Secondary teachers know about introducing a second foreign language – how the experience of FL1 can accelerate pace in FL2

 Key Stage 1, 2 and 3 co-ordinators plan collaboratively  Named link teachers  Joint non-contact days with input from ASTs and LA personnel  Primary languages staff working in secondaries, ensuring that the curriculum is appropriate for the pupils and takes account of prior learning

 Joint work with language teachers and literacy co-ordinators to identify common skills and terminology  Adapt Y7 SoW to take into account topics and structures already covered  Accelerate Y7 SoW  Intensive classes for pupils with limited/no exposure to language being taught in Y7  “Buddy” system pairing pupils who have previously learned the language with those who have not

 New challenging contexts/material when revisiting topics already covered  Fast-tracking able linguists  Use European Language Portfolio so that pupils can track their own progress  Y7 pupils to visit their former primary schools for peer tutoring and demonstrating activities and levels of achievement

 Plan Y7 around KS3 Framework objectives  Develop all 4 skills  Change context when revisiting a topic  Start with a topic new to all  Use “toolkit” approach from the start to enable pupils to use language functionally  Differentiate groups where possible to enable extension/consolidation/”catch-up”

 Differentiated group work within class to allow teacher to focus on “catch up”  More able as leaders/models/peer tutors  FLA and/or TA to facilitate differentiated grouping  Older pupils as tutors, e.g. Y10/Y11 to help during registration/form time